It's been a bad year for my favorite team, well, really bad TBH

[The Polack MSgt]

But it's been a great year for Baseball.

The World Baseball Classic was fantastic and so was the College World Series.

Shohei Ohtani may be the best athlete in history.

The Giants, D-Backs, Reds, Rays and Rangers are all winning with moderate payrolls and young up and coming stars.

The pitch clock (which I opposed) and banning the shift (which I supported) have combined to make the game better. The games have a better pace and more action.

I travel for a living and I hear people talking baseball in places where I never really noticed it before.

I mean, I live around St Louis and we talk baseball all the time here. What's different now is I was talking baseball with folks in Charleston South Carolina and Hattiesburg Mississippi. That is not normal in my experiance.

I am really optomistic about the direction Baseball is headed.

[Dave in VA]

1. Yeah, my team ain't doin' so hot either!

I, like you, wasn't too sure about the new rule changes. But it does appear that they have helped them game. (I really hate giving Manfred any credit )

Well, there's always next year!

[The Polack MSgt]

4. Yeah, I was in the "Why does Manfred hate Baseball?" crowd as well

Still don't like the guy, seems phony.

But honesty compells me to give Robot Rob some credit here

[brush]

2. Ohtani is probably the best player ever (the consensus has usually been Mays)...

Luis Arraez is flirting with hitting .400, the pitch clock and shift rule are working. Baseball TV highlights are now more than just home runs and strikeouts.

We're in good shape (I still hate the Tribes' name change though, they could've done way better...like maybe "The Tribe" which has been their nickname for decades).

[The Polack MSgt]

3. I was rooting for a return of "The Spiders"

But "The Tribe" would've been cool too. "The Guardians" sounds like a Youth Hockey team

[Auggie]

5. I hate the new schedule

It favors large market teams and reduces the number of times historic rivals play each other. Horrible decision.

[The Polack MSgt]

6. Cutting the number of intra-division games may hurt the division pennent races

as there are fewer head to head games - and that sucks

On the other hand, and I hate to say this, more visits from big drawing teams like the Dodgers Yankees and Red Socks will help the gate receipts at small market venues - Like Pittsburgh and Denver

And my wife and I got to see Shohei and Mike Trout this year - with the old scheduling system, The Angels only came to St Louis for one series in the previous 6 years.

So there are silver linings to it.

[sellitman]

7. My Mets are unwatchable.

Biggest payroll in baseball too.

It's hell being a fan of this team.

And yet...here I am.

[Mr.Bill]

8. I agree.

Mike Krukow, one of the Giants' announcers pointed out that the people being brought up from the minor leagues are having less problems with the new rules because the minor leagues have been playing under these new rules for the last two years.

[Auggie]

9. As always, Krukow adds value to the conversation ...

best color announcer in the biz. One of the best ever.

[Mr.Bill]

10. I wasn't much of a baseball fan until 2010.

I used to say the same things that others say about the game. It's boring, it's too slow, not enough action, etc. I was always a bit of a Giants fan, though. When I was ten I saw Willie Mays play. When the Giants looked like they were making a run at the pennant in 2010, I started watching. Krukow and Kuiper are the reason I am a baseball fan now. They have taught me so much about baseball that I now see all those negative thing I mentioned go away the more you know about the game.

Now a 1-0 game can really interest me because I see things about the game I never saw before.

[The Polack MSgt]

12. +++ So true

Baseball unspools as you learn. It has layers you never notice until you spend time watching and learning

I like hockey and football, and I love basketball - but none of those sports engrosses me like baseball does.

Baseball is my drama, the story I follow daily and the obsession I can't kill from the day Pitchers and Catchers report until the 27th out in the last World Series game

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Good To Hear

One of the guys in our daily golf group is big Cardinals fan.
He's ok with the bad start, because he says they're rare enough. Expects them to fix it next hear.
Unlike you, I was a big proponent of the changes. But, just like you, I'm glad they achieved their intended purpose.
Oh, and yes, Ohtani is amazing.